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THE EVERGLADES 



of FLORIDA 



6 S 3 



THE EVERGLADES 

of FLORIDA 

THEIR ADAPTABILITY FOR THE 
GROWTH OF SUGAR CANE 

PART ONE 

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE EVERGLADES 
AND THEIR PRESENT CONDITION. 

PART TWO 

A DISCUSSION OF THE SOIL AND CLIMATIC 
CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR THE GROWTH 
OF SUGAR CANE, METHODS AND COST OF 
CULTIVATING. HARVESTING AND MANU- 
FACTURING THE SAME. 



BY 

J. O. WRIGHT 

FORMERLY SUPERVISING DRAINAGE ENGINEER IN THE UNITED 

STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND LATER 

CHIEF DRAINAGE ENGINEER FOR THE 

STATE OF FLORIDA. 



TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 

DECEMBER 
19 12 



F3ir 



.^^w^'T 



f.7^ 



Copyright, 1912, by 
J. O. WRIGHT. 



T" 



^HE Wa^ to develop a countr'^ 
to grow and manufacture 

within its borders the necessities 
its people must have in their daily 
life. 



CONTENTS. 

I'age. 

Introduction 13 

PART ONE. 

General description of tlie Everarlades 17 

Early description of Col. Loniu: 10 

Formation of the Everglades 22 

Natural drainage 24 

Growth and vegetation 25 

Ownership and control 20 

Plan of drainage adopted by the State 28 

Lateral canals 31 

Low cost of work 32 

Present condition 34 

Obligation of the State 30 

Difficulties to overcome 39 

Means of transportation 40 

Survey of the Everglades 41 

Healthfulness 45 

I'ART TWO. 

Sugar Cane — AVhere found 49 

Climatic condition necessary 49 

Essentials for profitable cane culture 52 

Everglade soil 53 

Temperature 50 

Rainfall and water supply 58 

Advantageous features of the Everglades 04 

Opinion of Dr. Stubbs 05 

Drainage of a sugar plantation in the Everglades 0(5 

Dual use of canals 08 

Method of planting and cultivating cane 09 

Cost of growing sugar cane 75 

Marketing and manufacturing 78 

Supply and consumption of sugar SO 

Value to the state 81 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

1. First page of cover. 

a. Everglades of the past. 

b. Everglades of the future. 

2. Map of the peninsula of Florida. 

3. Map of Drainage District, showing canals being con- 

structed by the State. 

4. Map of Drainage Canals as recommended by J. O. 

Wright. 

5. Tractor used in surveying Everglades. 
G. Diagram showing rainfall. 

7. Diagram showing rainfall. 

8. Map showing arrangement of canals on a Sugar 

Plantation of 2,560 acres. 

9. Plowing with a Tractor. 

10. Sugar Cane on Miami canal. 

11. A modern Sugar Factory. 

12. Sugar cane on Fellsmere Farms. 



INTRODUCTION. 

My first public utterance concerning the Everglades of 
Florida was an address delivered in Miami, Fla., Feb. 26, 
190S. At this meeting I gave it as my opinion the Ever- 
glades would be drained, but the land would not be perma- 
nently settled without the introduction and growth of 
some staple crop of a high commercial value, and suggested 
rice and sugar cane as the crops that would most likely be 
found best suited to the climate and soil. 

After having completed my investigation for the U. S. 
Department of Agriculture, in a report prepared by me 
June 25, 1909, I used the following language: 

•"It is believed by agriculturists and chemists who 
have studied the situation, and from evidence afforded 
l)y the demonstrations that have been made, that sugar 
cane can be grown successfully on these muck lands. 
The writer saw in numerous places, visited many 
patches of sugar cane, the stalks as large and heavy 
as those grown in Louisiana and thick enough on the 
ground to yield a big tonnage per acre. 

"It requires much capital to grow and manufacture, 
sugar cane profitably. Owners of small areas cannot 
engage successfully in this work unless modern central 
factories are provided, to convert the cane into su- 
gar. Another serious drawback is harvesting the cane 
and transporting it to the factory. Owing to the 
soft condition of the ground this will have to be done 
bj' means of tram-roads and cars or canals and barges: 

"If adequate facilities for handling the crop economi- 
cally were provided, there seems to be but little doubt 
in the minds of those who have given the matter 
careful consideration that sugar cane is THI] staple 
crop that can be grown safely and profitably in the 
Everglades. 

"The amount of sugar produced in the United States 
lias but little influence on the price, as we are com- 
pelled to import large quantities from other countries 
to supply our needs. At the present time the price 
of sugar is high enough to make the growing of cane 
a profitable business. In Louisiana the price of cane 
at the mill is about $3.00 per ton, varying somewhat 
with the price of sugar, 

"Although cane is an expensive crop to grow, a yield 
of thirty tons per acre, which is not at all uncom- 
mon, would show a profit much greater than can be 
secured from any field crop in the Mississippi Valley. 

2-Ev. 



"There may be other staple field crops that can lie 
grown successfully on these muck lands, but the fact 
has not yet been demonstrated. At the present time 
sugar cane seems to be the most promising crop that 
can be raised extensively on these lands. It is true 
that many other crops may be grown, but they are 
of a perishable nature, the demand for them is lim- 
ited, and the cost of transportation so great that to 
undertake their production on a large scale does not 
seem warranted." 

The object of this publication is to set forth my views 
somewhat at length, after a more thorough and systematic 
study of this subject. The facts stated in support of my 
arguments are all well authenticated, and the conclu* 
sions reached conservative and reasonable. 

Tallahassee, Fla., Dec. 1, 1912. J. O. WRIGHT. 



PART ONE. 



PART ONE. 



A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE NATURAL 

FEATURES OF THE EVERGLADES AND 

THEIR PRESENT CONDITION. 



3^^^ HERE are but few persons in the United 
States who have not lieard of the Ever- 
glades of Florida, yet a large per cent of 
those who have not SEEN the Everglades have 
an erroneous and imperfect conception of this 
territory. The general impression is that the 
Everglades is an impenetrable swamp or jungle 
covered with a dense growth of trees and vines, 
infected with all kinds of reptiles, and reeking 
with fever and malaria. 

During the past three years the writer has 
had an opportunity of meeting a great many 
persons from different parts of the country, on 
their first visit to this famous territory. With 
hardly a single exception they were filled with 
surprise and admiration. Instead of an impene- 
trable swamp, covered with timber, they found 
a vast PRAIRIE sixty miles wide, stretching 
from Lake Okeechobee on the north to Biscayne 
Bay on the south. 

Between the Everglades and the Atlantic 
Ocean is a belt of small timber, whose general 
surface is one to three feet higher than the 
Everglades directly west, and having a slight 
slope toward the south. This strip of land is 
composed of sand, loam and clay, with some 
muck in the low places, the entire area being 



18 F L O II I D A EVERGLADES 

underlain with an oolitic limestone. The depth 
of earth on this limestone ranges from twelve 
feet or more at the north end, to a mere covering 
at the south end. Near the coast a series of flat 
ridges of sand have been thrown up by the 
action of the wind and waves, two to ten feet 
higher than the general level. The growth in 
this belt is scattering pine and scrub palmetto, 
on the sandy portions, and small cypress in the 
sloughs. There is a similar strip of high land, 
though much wider, on the west side of the 
Everglades, having a slope toward the south 
and west. 

The soil between these two ridges is a well 
decomposed ''muck" (not peat) two to four- 
teen feet deep. This muck is underlain with a 
porous rotten limestone mixed in many places 
with sand, clay, shell and marl. 

As a general proposition, the muck is deepest 
near Lake Okeechobee, and shallowest in the 
southern portion of the Everglades. For a dis- 
tance of about twenty miles south from Lake 
Okeechobee, the underlying material is prac- 
tically level on top. Beyond this it becomes 
uneven, being marked with irregular depres- 
sions and ridges. As the surface is level, this 
unevenness of the sub-stratum causes a varying 
depth of muck within a limited area. 

The surface of the Everglades, taken as a 
whole, appears to be a level plain, having a 
slope of three inches per mile toward the south 
and east, yet this general statement is subject 
to slight modification. Throughout the entire 
area there are numerous winding shallow de- 
pressions or channels 100 to 500 feet wide, and 



F L O K I D A EVE K GLADES 19 

one to three feet lower than the land through 
which they pass. These depressions, locally 
called ''Strands," wind through the 'Glades 
in all directions, though their general trend is 
from north to south. In other places there are 
slight depressions, like ponds or lagoons, cover- 
ing one to forty acres. These are most numer- 
ous along the eastern margin and throughout 
the southern portion. The muck in these de- 
pressions is usually less firm than the land on 
either side. These irregularities of the surface 
also affect the depth of muck at these points, 
as the underlying hard material is no lower in 
these surface depressions than under the adja- 
cent land. These low places are usually filled 
with water, while the general surface of the 
Everglades is comparatively dry. 

Early Description of the Everglades. 

The following description of the Everglades 
was written in 18-1:8, by Col. S. H. Long, Topo- 
graphical Engineer of the U. S. Army, and 
transmitted to Hon. J. D. Wescott, Jr., U. S. 
Senator from Florida. It presents very clearly 
the condition at that time, and the opinion that 
was held as to the future possibilities of the 
Everglades. 

' ' The main body of this district appears to be 
situated between 25 degrees 31 minutes and 
27 degrees of north latitude, and between 80 
degrees 30 minutes and 81 degrees 15 minutes 
of west longitude from Greenwich. Its extent 
from north to south is about 100 miles, and its 
averao^e width from east to west about 50 miles. 



20 F L O E I D A E Y E K G L A D E S 

It is bounded on the north by Lake Okeechobee, 
which may be regarded as an extensive water 
sheet covering a portion of the Everglades and 
holding it in a state of constant submersion, 
and on the east, south and west by a sort of rim 
or margin, elevated a few^ feet above the com- 
mon level of the included district and of the 
circumjacent country. A profusion of insular 
tracts of greater or less extent, and of eleva- 
tions about equal to that of the rim, or a few 
feet above the common level of the district, are 
scattered in every direction over the surface 
of the district. 

'^Witli the exception of these insulated tracts 
and the rim with which it is bounded, the entire 
district is subject to periodical overflows of 
water to the depth of two or four feet during 
the rainy season, which usually prevails from 
August or September to February or March 
of every year. These overflows are supposed 
to have their principal origin in the country 
northward of Lake Okeechobee and to be 
brought down to the lake through the channel 
and valley of the Kissimmee River. 

^'The entire district embraces an area of 
about 5,000 square miles, nearly one-half of 
which, agreeably to the best information I can 
obtain, is susceptible of drainage, and, when 
thus reclaimed, would present fields of vast 
magnitude adapted to the cultivation of sugar, 
rice, and numerous tropical products of great 
value. The method of drainage that has been 
proposed and recommended is as follows, viz: 

''First — A spacious canal or drain leading* 



FLORID A EVERGLADES 21 

from Lake Okeechobee westward, through the 
valley or pass of Caloosahatchee River to the 
Gulf of Mexico; 

^^ Second — A similar canal leading from the 
same lake eastward, through the valley of Loch- 
ahatchee River to the Atlantic Ocean; and 

^' Third — Numerous drains of much smaller 
size leading across the rim and communicating, 
respectively, with one or more of the numerous 
rivulets that rise in the vicinity of the rim and 
empty into the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic at 
various points along the coast of Florida. 

"It is believed by many that the two large 
canals first mentioned will amply subserve the 
purpose of drainage; but, should they prove in- 
adequate, that the desired end may be effectual- 
ly attained by means of the smaller drains men- 
tioned in the third proposition. 

"The practicability of draining the Ever- 
glades must, of course, depend on the elevation 
of Lake Okeechobee, and of the Everglades 
tliemselves, above the level of the high tides in 
the ocean. This elevation is supposed to be 
from twelve to twenty feet. The difference of 
the levels alluded to, so far as I can learn, has 
never been determined by instrumental surveys. 
Its accurate determination should unquestion- 
ably precede any attempts to accomplish the ob- 
ject in view. 

"By means of the two canals connecting Lake 
Okeechobee with tidewater, together with a lock 
in each (if necessary) of suitable dimensions to 
admit small coasters and steamers, it is sup- 
posed that a line of continuous navigation may 



22 F L O E I D A EVERGLADES 

be opened entirely across the Isthmus of Florida 
from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico. In 
case the locks should be found expedient and 
proi^er, they should be accompanied by spacious 
waste weirs or sluices and perhaps flood-gates, 
in order to afford a full and free discharge of 
water from the lake," etc. 

Formation of the Everglades. 

The southern part of the Peninsula of Florida 
was at one time covered with water, which re- 
ceded and left the rock ridges on either side of 
what is now the Everglades exposed. The 
basin between these ridges has been gradually 
filled by accretions and the growth of vegetable 
matter. There are no indications of an up- 
heaval or of volcanic action in South Florida. 
Neither is there any indication that the rock un- 
derlying the muck is of coral formation, except 
in very limited areas. It is not stratified, but 
is homogeneous in charcter. In most places it 
is soft and porous, but there are, however, cer- 
tain limited areas in which it is very hard and 
difficult to remove. When in place, this stone is 
quite retentive of moisture, but dries out and 
hardens when it is exposed to the air, and makes 
good concrete and surface dressing for roads. 

The most important factor connected with the 
formation and reclamation of the Everglades is 
Lake Okeechobee, the largest body of fresh wa- 
ter, except Lake Michigan, wholly within the 
United States. This lake is almost circular in 
shape, covers a half million acres, and has an 
average depth of thirteen feet. It lies at the 



FLORIDA E ^^ E R G L A D E S 23 

northern end of the Everglades, and has a mean 
surface elevation of 20.6 feet above sea level. 
It is not fed by springs or subterranean chan- 
nels, but derives its supply of water from the 
run-off from the flat pine lands lying to the north 
and west. The area draining into Lake Okee- 
chobee is seven and one-half times as large as 
the lake itself. This, with the surface of the 
lake, gives a catchment area of 4,000,000 acres 
to furnish the supply of water for the lake. Un- 
til recently Okeechobee had no well-defined out- 
let, but canals have now been dug, connecting 
it with the sea. It has low, marshy banks on the 
south and west, and during the rainy season 
(June to October), after filling to an elevation 
of 21.6 feet, about one foot above normal, it 
overflows its banks in the lowest places for a dis- 
tance of seventy miles, and the surplus water 
passes off over the land, finally reaching natural 
channels through which it is discharged into 
the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean. It is 
this annual overflow from the lake, flooding the 
deposit of muck lying between the ridges of 
highland, that has formed the ^'Everglades." 
If a water-tight dam were built across the 
Peninsula of Florida at the south end of Lake 
Okeechobee, so as to cut off all the water from 
the lake, there would be no Everglades. The 
surface water would soon evaporate and the 
pools dry up. The muck would become parched, 
and the water-loving plants that now cover the 
surface would die from lack of moisture, and 
the area would become a barren plain. Like 
the arid lands of the West, it ''would cry for 
water." 



24 FLORIDA E A^ E R G L A D E S 

Natural Drainage. 

During this formative period, water that was 
discharged by the Kissimmee River into Lake 
Okeechobee, while endeavoring to tind an out- 
let to the sea, broke through the rock rim in 
many places, both on the east and west coast, 
and by its constant action eroded the rock, so 
that there are numerous channels through which 
the surface water flows quite freely from the 
Everglades, both into the Atlantic Ocean and 
the Gulf of Mexico. In many places these chan- 
nels are worn down several feet, but do not 
extend far beyond the rim into the interior. The 
water is brought from the margin of the 'Glades 
in small rivulets to the heads of these streams, 
which increase in size as they approach their 
outlets. The difference in elevation between 
sea level and the source of these streams gives 
many of them sufficient fall to cut out large and 
deep channels. The streams on the east coast, 
beginning at Rockledge and going south, are as 
follows: 

Sebastian Eiver, St. Lucie River, Loxahatchee 
River, Hillsboro River, Cypress Creek, Middle 
River, New River, Snake Creek, Arch Creek, 
Little River, Miami River and Snapper Creek, 
These streams are shorter, and have ujore fall 
per mile than those on the west coast. None of 
these were originally connected directly with 
Lake Okeechobee, although they receive more or 
less water from it during the period of heavy 
rains. On the west coast the conditions are 
somewhat different. 

The Caloosahatchee River, a stream of consid- 



FLORIDA EVERGLADES 25 

erable imijortance, now takes its water directly 
from Lake Okeechobee and the adjacent coun- 
try on the west, and flows southwest to Fort 
Myers. 

Natural Growth and Vegetation. 

Along the south shore of Lake Okee- 
chobee there is a strip of land, one-half to two 
miles wide, covered with a dense growth of 
''Custard Apple/' a dwarfed, gnarled tree, 
twenty to thirty feet high and eight to twelve 
inches in diameter. The wood of this tree is 
hard, but decays quickly when cut down, while 
the roots are ver}^ soft, almost as light as cork 
when dry, and are easily removed from the soil. 
Along the edges of this custard apple there are 
clumps of willow, elder and other soft shrubs. 
This entire fringe of timber and bushes is cov- 
ered with a wild morning glory, giving the 
whole a picturesque appearance. 

Along the eastern margin of the Everglades 
there is a growth of small cypress, scattering 
pine, myrtle and willow. The line between the 
sandy land and the muck is not well defined. It 
is difficult to tell just where the upland ceases 
and the muck begins. In some places the clumps 
of small trees and underbrush extend three to 
five miles from the rock rim into the open 
prairie, while in others the open prairie termi- 
nates in a well-defined line next to the rock rim. 
The combined area of these strips of timber 
and clumps of bushes is less than one per cent of 
the entire area of the Everglades. 

The depressions and ponds above described, 



26 FLO K IDA EVERGLADES 

probably aggregating five per cent of the entire 
area, are covered with a growth of lily-pads 
and other aquatic plants. The remainder is 
covered with a dense growth of coarse grass, 
four to eight feet high, which, from the struc- 
ture of its blades, is called "Saw Grass." The 
stem of this grass is quite coarse, the blade is 
tough, with a serrated edge, and the plant is un- 
fit for forage or any other use. When the land 
is once broken and this saw grass destroyed, it 
does not reproduce itself, but the ground is soon 
covered with a growth of coarse Aveeds, princi- 
pally with what is called ' ' Careless Weed. ' ' The 
writer has seen careless weeds along the canal 
banks, twenty inches in circumference at the 
ground and sixteen feet high — the growth of one 
season. 

Ownership and Control. 

As but few persons outside of the State of 
Florida are familiar with the method of hand- 
ling the swamp and overflowed lands, a brief 
description of the ownership and control of 
these lands may be useful. 

By the treaty of 1819, Spain ceded to the 
United States the territory then known as East 
and West Florida. This territory was by Act 
of Congress, approved March 3, 1845, admitted 
into the union under the name of the State of 
Florida. 

The Federal Government, in 1850, by what is 
commonly known as the ' ' Swamp Land Grant, ' ' 
ceded to the several States for the purpose of 
drainage and reclamation, all the swamp and 



FLORIDA EVERGLADES 27 



overflowed land within tlieir respective borders, 
remaining unsold at the time. By this act Flor- 
ida acquired title to all the swamp and over- 
flowed lands within her borders, amounting to 
upwards of twenty million acres. 

Patents or deeds for these lands have been 
issued by the Federal Government to the several 
States, from time to time. Patent No. 137, known 
as the Everglades, embracing 2,862,080 acres, 
was issued April 29, 1903. The Legislature of 
the State, in 1851, passed an Act accepting the 
swamp and overflowed lands ceded to it by the 
Federal Government, and made provision for 
a Board of Internal Improvement, composed of 
members from the several judicial circuits of 
the State, to take charge of these swamp lands. 
This Board was unable to discharge its duty and 
recommended a new bill, which became a law 
June 6, 1855. (See Chapter 610, Laws of Flor- 
ida). This Act creates a Board of Trustees of 
the Internal Improvement Fund by designating 
the Governor, Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney- 
General and Commissioner of Agriculture, and 
their successors in office, as Trustees, and grants 
to said Trustees irrevocably the lands granted 
to the State of Florida by the Act of 1841, for in- 
ternal improvement purposes, remaining unsold, 
and also the lands granted to the State of Flor- 
ida under the Act approved September 28, 1850, 
for the purpose and trust therein set forth, the 
main trust being the drainage and reclamation 
of the overflowed lands. 

The personnel of the Board of Trustees of the 
Internal Improvement Fund, which has control 
of the public lands, has been frequently changed 



28 FLOEIDA EVERGLADES 

by the election of new State officers. These 
frequent changes have been detrimental to the 
formation and carrying out of any fixed policy 
concerning the drainage of the swamp lands. 
It has generally been the belief of the Trustees 
that they should be drained, but how or by 
whom has been an open question. 

In February, 1881, the Trustees entered into 
a contract with Hamilton Disston, of Philadel- 
phia, Pa., to drain and reclaim several million 
acres of land in South Florida in which were 
included the Everglades. He entered upon the 
undertaking, and considerable work was done 
in Osceola County, near Kissimmee, and in the 
Caloosahatchee River valley, between Fort 
Thompson and Lake Okeechobee. The work 
contemplated was never completed, and very 
little i^ermanent good was accomplished. The 
Disston contract was terminated in 1893. No 
other drainage was undertaken by the Trus- 
tees until 1907, when the work now being car- 
ried on was inaugurated. 

The Plan of Drainage Adopted by the State. 

The foregoing statements explain why Lake 
Okeechobee is the dominant feature in any ra- 
tional plan for the reclamation of the Ever- 
glades. Without Lake Okeechobee the Ever- 
glades would never have been formed, and 
without it the Everglades can never be re- 
claimed and made productive. 

Any intelligent person, familiar with the nat- 
ural conditions, will recognize at once that the 
first step in any plan of reclamation is the con- 



30 FLOEIDA EVERGLADES 

1. To lessen the number of canals that would 
be necessary to discharge this run-off during the 
short period in which it is accumulating. 

2. To hold an adequate supply of water in 
the lake for irrigation, if needed^ and to main- 
tain a uniform flow in the canals throughout 
the year. 

For this purpose concrete locks and dams are 
to be built in each canal near the shore of the 
lake. These dams are provided with sluice 
gates, by means of which the quantity of water 
flowing from the lake into the canals is at all 
times under the control of the lock-tender. There 
is i^robably no other place in the world where 
the conditions are so favorable for both irriga- 
tion and drainage as in this project. 

By lowering the level of the lake a storage 
capacity, having an area as large as the State 
of Rhode Island, and three or four feet deep, is 
formed. This will provide an inexhaustible 
supply for irrigation and assist in maintaining 
a sufficient depth of flow in the canals through- 
out the year to afford navigation for shallow- 
draft boats and barges. There are skeptics, 
and so-called ' 'engineers," who claim this can- 
not be done, but those who have given this mat- 
ter the most careful consideration maintain 
that, by the construction of suitable locks and 
dams, with sluice gates at proper intervals in 
the canals, it is a simple and inexpensive matter. 
By opening or closing the gates the stage of 
water, within certain limits, in any portion of 
the canals, may be successfully regulated. 

When these five canals are completed, should 
it be found that their discharge is not sufficient 



INDIANRI\/€fi/NL£T 




.-4 I 1 J 1-- 

PLANTOH DHATNING THE 



FLOTODA 
EVERGLADES 

JRecomniended l3y 

J.O.WItlGHT 

S\rp ervi sing Dra±aage Engineer 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 



FLORIDA EVERGLADES 31 



to control the level of the water in the lake, 
others can be constructed, and the money so far 
expended will not have been wasted. This 
is a much wiser method of procedure than to 
have constructed six or seven canals and find 
that only five were required to do the work. 

Lateral Canals. 

The next step in any plan of reclamation is to 
provide means for promptly removing the ex- 
cess of water that falls directly on the Ever- 
glades. This can be done on practically all the 
area by gravity drainage. In the southern part 
some of the ponds and depressions may be so 
low as to require pumping, but these are very 
small and the land of doubtful value when 
drained. Just how much local precipitation 
will have to be removed from this area by drain- 
age is another matter about which engineers 
do not agree, since no other body of land like 
the Everglades has been reclaimed. Results 
obtained by actual experience are lack- 
ing. Conclusions based solely on theory are 
often disappointing, so experience must be the 
final arbiter in determining the quantity that 
must be removed. 

The main arteries now being built for con- 
trolling the overflow from the lake increase in 
width at stated intervals, so that their combined 
discharge capacity at their outlets is much 
greater than at the lake end. In a plan of 
drainage prepared by the writer (see Senate 
Document No. 89, pages 168 to 171), eight ca- 
nals, having a discharge capacity at their out 



32 FLORIDA EVERGLADES 



lets two and one-third times their capacity near 
the lake, were recommended as main arteries. 
The arrangement shown on this plan is not 
being strictly carried out by the Trustees, but 
the exact location of these canals is not a mat- 
ter of vital importance so long as the requisite 
discharge capacity is provided. 

There is no difficulty whatever in complete- 
ly draining the Everglades when the overflow 
from Lake Okeechobee is cut off; it is simply a 
matter of digging enough canals and laterals to 
remove the rainfall as rapidly as it accumulates. 
The material is soft, free from trees and roots, 
and is easily handled with a steam dredge or 
ditching machine. 

Low Cost of Work. 

There is probably not another large body of 
land in the United States that can be drained 
and put in cultivation as cheaply as the Ever- 
glades. The main arteries or outlets to serve 
the entire area will not cost to exceed $2.00 per 
acre. The cost of laterals and farm drains will 
depend largely upon the purpose for which the 
land is to be used. For general farming this 
will be from $3.00 to $5.00 per acre. If the land 
is to be used for intensive farming, and a com- 
plete system of canals and ditches for both 
drainage and irrigation are provided, the cost 
will not exceed $10.00 per acre. The difference 
between the cost of reclaiming this land and the 
reclamation work in the arid west is simply 
astounding. In a report published by the De- 



FLOKIDA EVERGLADES 33 

partment of Commerce and Labor December 1, 
1910, it is stated the Federal Govermnent lias 
approved thirty reclamation projects having an 
area of 3,029,951 acres at an estimated cost of 
$119,555,555.00, or approximately $10.00 per 
acre. 

When land in the Everglades is drained there 
is no grubbing or clearing to be done before it 
can be put in cultivation. The low cost of com- 
plete drainage and irrigation, the absence of 
clearing and grubbing, and the favorable cli- 
matic conditions, are facts that must be taken 
into consideration by prospective purchasers in 
comparing the value of this land with other 
lands on the market. 

Persons who claim the Everglades cannot 
be drained are ignorant of the natural condi- 
tions or wilfully misrepresent them. The fact 
that the State has been working on this project 
for ^ve years and the land is not yet drained 
does not indicate failure or impossibility. The 
Panama Canal was commenced before the drain- 
age of the Everglades, but no ships have yet 
passed through this canal. If a farmer should 
buy land on a projected railroad and grow crops, 
he could not reasonably expect to ship his prod- 
ucts on this line of road before the grade was 
completed and the ties and rails laid. The 
fact that trains were not running would be no 
indication that the road could not be built. Be- 
cause the land in the Everglades cannot be oc- 
cupied and farmed at the present time does not 
signify it cannot be reclaimed. The beneficial 
results of the work now under contract and pro- 




34 FLOE IDA EVEEGLADES 

jected cannot be realized until the canals are 
completed. 

A piece of unfinished work often makes the 
natural conditions worse than they were before 
the work was commenced. An unimproved 
street, when ploughed up and partially graded, 
is frequently worse than it was before the im- 
provement was begun. This is particularly 
true of this project at the present time. The 
unfinished canals concentrated the overflow 
from the lake during the past rainy season and 
flooded the lower part of the Everglades west 
of Fort Lauderdale. This has caused the op- 
ponents of this work to reiterate the old false- 
hood — ''The Everglades cannot be drained.'' 
They cite the overflow as an illustration that 
the work is a failure. Such statements are the 
result of an ignorance too dense to be over- 
come, or else are made with a sinister motive. 

Present Condition. 

At this point I wish to emphasize the fact that 
no part of the Everglades is yet sufficiently 
drained for occupancy and cultivation. This 
is because the main arteries for controlling the 
overflow from Lake Okeechobee are not com- 
plete. Attempts have been made, although the 
land is imperfectly drained and subject to over- 
flow each year, to cultivate limited areas ad- 
jacent the canals and on the south shore of 
the lake. Some of these attempts have been 
successful, while others have been failures. 

From the present rate of progress it now 



FLOKIDA EVERGLADES 35 

seems that the drainage work will be sufficiently 
advanced by December 1, 1913, to cultivate with 
safety and profit much of the higher land im- 
mediately south of Okeechobee. It will, how- 
ever, be necessary to dig additional outlets, and 
put in a complete system of laterals, before 
the Everglades as a whole can be put in culti- 
vation. No arrangement has yet been made 
for doing this work. 

More than one-half of the muck land in the 
Everglades has been sold by the Trustees of 
the Internal Improvement Fund to private 
parties, without any stipulation or agreement' 
as to lateral drains. Much of this land has^ 
since been resold, and is now held in small 
tracts (ten to forty acres), by persons scattered /. \ 
throughout the United States. This is an un- 
fortunate condition confronting the owners of 
Everglade land that must be met and over- 
come. 

So far as the records show, the Trustese have 
not officially adopted any policy concerning lat- 
eral ditches. In certain instances, in which 
they have sold large areas of Everglade land, 
they have agreed with the purchasers to expend 
seventy-five per cent of the purchase money, 
in the construction of certain canals, which are 
now under contract and will soon be completed. 
In no instance do the records show that the 
Trustees have promised or agreed to drain any 
particular part of the Everglades. The canals 
now being constructed are an essential part of 
any drainage plan, and must be completed be- 
fore a system of laterals can be provided. 



f 



36 FLORIDA EVERGLADES 

Obligation of the State. 

"When the swamp and overflowed land was 
ceded to the several States by the Federal Gov- 
ernment the following condition was imposed 
by the Act: ^'The proceeds of said land, 
whether from sale or direct appropriation in 
kind, shall be applied exclusively, as far as nec- 
essary^ to reclaiming said land by means of 
levees and drains." (Eev. Stat., Sect. 2480.) 

It is quite evident from this statute that Con- 
gress intended to place, and did place, the bur- 
den of draining this land on the land itself, and 
not on some other person or property. It was 
never contemplated by Congress, or by the 
States accepting the land, that it would ever be 
drained by the Federal Government, or at the 
expense of the State, other than in the manner 
set forth in the act itself. The burden of drain- 
age is still on this land, and it cannot be shifted 
by change in ownership. 

In the case of Kimball vs. the Reclamation 
Fund Commissioner (43 Cal. 344), the Supreme 
Court of that State said: ''In accepting this 
grant the State was bound to carry out in good 
faith the objects for which it was made. It 
would practically defeat the whole cause of re- 
clamation contemplated by Congress if the mere 
sale of land to private proprietors should have 
the effect to exempt it from the power of the 
Legislature to reclaim it. Such a result would 
be a flagrant violation of its duty toward the 
Federal Government. ' ' 

In order to discharge this obligation, the State 
of Florida has provided two ways for raising 



X 

FLOEIDA EVERGLADES 37 

funds for carrying on the work : First — the Leg- 
islature, in 19U7, created a Special Drainage Dis- 
trict embracing the Everglades and some con- 
tiguous territory, containing approximately -1-,- 
300,000 acres, and levied a drainage tax of five 
cents per acre, per annum on all the lands in 
the district for the purpose of draining the land; 
second — it has seventy-five per cent of the 
money received from the sale of swamp and 
overflowed lands for the jDurpose of drainage. 
These are the only sources of revenue the State 
has for carrying on the drainage work in the 
Everglades. 

From the first of these sources (the drain- 
age tax) a fund of about $150,000 per annum is 
collected — the Trustees owning about 1,300,- 
000 acres in the drainage district on which no 
assessment is made. This tax has been levied 
and collected each year since 1907. 

The amount raised by the second method 
(from the sale of swamp and overflowed lands) 
is uncertain and indefinite. The constitution 
of the State provides that twenty-five per cent 
of all the moneys received from the sale of pub- 
lic lands shall be turned into the school fund 
for the purpose of education. This leaves but 
three-fourths of the amount received for the 
purpose of drainage. 

When the drainage work was commenced, the 
public had but little confidence in the success 
of the undertaking, and it was difficult to sell 
the land at any price. The Trustees, however, 
finally succeeded in selling about 700,000 acres 
at $1.25 to $2.00 per acre. When pending suits 
which had been brought against the Trustees to 



38 FLORIDA EVERGLADES 

restrain the collection of the drainage tax were 
dismissed, and a contract for the excavation of 
184 miles of drainage canal was let to a respon- 
sible firm, the price of Everglade land advanced 
to $12.00 to $20.00 per acre, according to 
location. It then seemed that the Trustees 
would have no difficulty whatever in raising 
the money that would be needed to reclaim all 
the land in the drainage district. This, how- 
ever, was not the case. Just when all the dif- 
ficulties seemed to have been met and overcome, 
a powerful interest, both within and without the 
State, that was opposed to the drainage, set 
out to injure or destroy the project by cir- 
culating false and malicious rei3orts concerning 
the character of the land and the efficiency of 
the work being done. The old adage — '^a lie 
travels faster than the truth" — was more than 
verified in this instance. Within a very few 
months it was proclaimed throughout the coun- 
try that the Everglades was nothing but worth- 
less peat and the drainage was a failure. The 
effect of these false and pernicious reports 
created distrust in the minds of the public and 
impaired the demand for Everglade land. These 
unwarranted attacks have peojardized the re- 
sources of the Trustees, and will no doubt re- 
tard the completion of the drainage work. 

Although a lie travels faster than the truth, 
it is not so enduring. In the course of a few 
years, these false statements concerning the 
Everglades will have been disproved and pub- 
lic confidence fully restored. It is a remark- 
able fact that practically all the derogatory 
statements relating to the character of the Ever- 



FLOEIDA EVERGLADES 39 

glades and the plan of reclaiming them have 
been made by persons who have no personal 
knowledge of existing conditions. These criti- 
cisms are based on vague rumors and ' ' hearsay 
evidence," that would not be accepted in any 
court of inquiry. These false and misleading- 
statements, that have been so assiduously cir- 
culated, are the creatures of an inexcusable ig- 
norance, or else they have been circulated with 
malicious intent or for personal gain. 

Co-operation Necessary. 

Experience in other States has convinced me 
that some form of co-operation among the sev- 
eral land owners must be secured before perfect 
drainage can be accomplished. No individual 
land owner, unless his land lies adjacent to one 
of the outlets, can drain his own land without 
affecting that of others. If the holdings in the 
Everglades were all in the State, or all in a 
single individual, it would be a simple matter to 
provide this lateral drainage, but with a diver- 
sified and widely distributed ownership it is a 
more difficult proposition. 

Voluntary co-operation of all the land owners 
interested in a project of this kind is ideal, but 
not possible. Differences of opinion as to plans, 
distribution of cost, method of procedure and 
many other details will naturally arise to hin- 
der and delay the work. Some legal instrument 
must be provided through which public senti- 
ment, as expressed by a majority of the people 
interested, can be carried out. 

To meet existing conditions, and make possi- 



40 FLORIDA EVERGLADES 

ble the comiDlete reclamation of the Everglades, 
tlie ownership must practically all be controlled 
by some one person, or else the State Legisla- 
tm^e must enact a General Drainage Law simi- 
lar to those now in operation in many of the 
other States, under which the work can be car- 
ried out. Without some such provision, it will 
be difficult to complete the reclamation of the 
Everglades. 

The intrinsic value of this land, in its present 
state, is not very great, but when drained it 
will become one of the most productive areas in 
the United States. The demand for good farm 
land is steadily increasing, while the supply be- 
comes less and less each year. The writer re- 
members quite distinctly when the swamp lands 
in Indiana and Illinois were worth less than 
$5.00 per acre; the same lands are selling today 
at $100.00 to $200.00 per acre. This increase in 
value has been brought about by drainage, 
which made possible a natural growth and 
development of the country. 

The holders of Everglade land should not be 
discouraged, but should unite in a common and 
persistent effort to complete the drainage as 
soon as possible and thereby reap the benefits 
of a substantial increase in price. 

Transportation. 

To any one owning land in the Everglades the 
facilities for easy access and transportation are 
of vital importance. It is generally conceded 
that water transportation is the cheapest meth- 
od of handling freiglit, unless long distances 



FLORIDA EVERGLADES 41 



are to be covered and time becomes an essential 
element. When the necessary canals are com- 
pleted, any part of the Everglades can be reach- 
ed with shallow-draft boats and barges. Locks 
are to be constructed in the main canals at pro- 
per intervals to maintain a boating stage at all 
seasons of the year. This method of transporta- 
tion has been found quite satisfactory in Hol- 
land and some parts of Germany. Through 
these canals the Florida East Coast Railway can 
be reached at Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Deer- 
field and West Palm Beach. This road is now 
building a branch from May town to Okeechobee 
City, on Taylor's Creek, four miles north of 
Lake Okeechobee. This will afford an addition- 
al outlet for products grown in the Everglades. 
The Atlantic Coast Line can be reached at Fort 
Myers via the Caloosahatchee River. There is 
a road projected across the Everglades from 
Tampa to Fort Lauderdale. This will no doubt 
be built as soon as there is a demand for it. 

After the drainage is completed, and the land 
has had time to settle, highways can be built at 
a reasonable cost. The canal banks can be used 
for the road bed and the stone excavated from 
the canals for covering the surface. 

The Survey of the Everglades. 

The tract known as the Everglades has not 
been divided into townships and ranges and 
subdivided into sections. The high land on 
either side was surveyed many years ago by 
the Federal Government, but the work was not 

4— Ev. 



42 FLOEIDA EVERGLADES 

extended into the open marsh because of its 
swampy condition. 

Many maps have been published showing the 
township and range lines, and in many in- 
stances the sections and subdivision of sections, 
in the Everglades. These are all ' ' Office Maps, ' ' 
made from data at hand and assumed, and not 
from an actual survey of the land. They give 
general information, but are not to be accepted 
as accurate. 

The Trustees of the Internal Improvement 
Fund adopted a map June 10, 1907, dividing 
the Everglades into townships and ranges. 
This map was made by projecting on a plot the 
township and range lines on the north, east 
and west sides of the Everglades, and not from 
any survey of the land. This was designated 
an ^'official map,'^ and land has been bought 
and sold by it. Each township was supposed 
to contain 3G sections of 640 acres each. 

On October 29, 1910, the Trustees requested 
their Chief Drainage Engineer to prepare and 
submit a plan for surveying the Everglades. 
Instructions for making a survey in accordance 
with the official map above mentioned were pre- 
pared by the engineer and approved by the 
Board of Trustees December 29, 1910, and the 
work was commenced the following March. One 
party of surveyors was placed in the field on the 
east side of the Everglades and another on the 
west side. Although the field notes of the U. S. 
survey adjacent to the Everglades showed the 
townships to be exactly six miles wide, an actual 
measurement showed them to be greatly in ex- 
cess of this width. Many of the corner posts 



F L O E I D A E V E K G L A B E S 43 



previously set by the Government were missing, 
and in many places no trace could be found on 
the ground to show that the lines had ever been 
run. This made it necessary to re-run many of 
the lines and re-locate the lost corners, at great 
expense to the State, as it required several 
months to do this work. 

When the existence of this surplus was 
brought to the attention of the Trustees, and it 
was discovered that the sections in the Ever- 
glades, under the plan of subdivision adopted, 
would contain more than 64-0 acres each, 
they directed their Engineer to i:>repare another 
plan that would divide the territory into town- 
ships exactly six miles square, containing thir- 
ty-six sections of 640 acres each. In compliance 
with this order, a second plan was prepared and 
approved by the Trustees, in which it is pro- 
posed to make the several townships each six 
miles square, as nearly as may be, and contain- 
ing thirty-six sections of 640 acres each. The 
surplus, instead of being distributed among the 
several townships, is disposed in large blocks, 
throughout the area. This is held by the State, 
and will be sub-divided into lots of a convenient 
size. 

After adopting the second plan, it became 
necessary to re-locate several of the corners 
that had already been established. The sur- 
vey is now being carried on in conformity with 
this modified plan. Permanent markers, con- 
sisting of a 1^/4 -inch galvanized iron pipe, are 
driven through the muck into the underlying 
hard material and surmounted by a bronze cap, 
with a proper inscription to designate the loca- 



44 F L O E I D A E V E E G L A D E S 

tion. These markers are placed at the section 
corners. 

Owing to the swampy condition of the land, 
this work was found to be both slow and ex- 
pensive. There is not sufficient water for the 
use of boats for transporting supi3lies, and 
the ground is too soft for the use of horses or 
oxen. Along the margin of the Everglades, 
near the highland, supplies and subsistence were 
carried in on the shoulders of the laborers, but 
as the interior of the 'Glades was reached, the 
cost of this work became prohibitive. The 
time lost in moving camp and going to and 
from the work, was much more than that em- 
ployed in running lines and setting corners. 

The writer, who at that time was Chief Drain- 
age Engineer, decided it would be necessary to 
abandon the survey until the drainage was 
completed, or else find some less expensive 
method of doing the work. After considering 
various expedients suggested, it was decided to 
build a tractor that would run in the Ever- 
glades, and transport the necessary supplies and 
furnish comfortable quarters for the men em- 
ployed. Such a machine was designed and 
built and has proven eminently satisfactory. 

This machine travels in the Everglades at the 
rate of two miles an hour, and carries 3,000 
pounds, in addition to its own weight. A cook 
house and sleeping quarters are erected on the 
machine, so that no time is lost in going to and 
from the work. The corner markers and sup- 
plies are carried on it, thereby greatly reduc- 
ing the number of men required in a party mak- 
ing the survey. 




CO 
UJ 
Q 
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o 

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o 

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Q 
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F L O E 1 D A E A^ E K G L A D E S 45 

The use of this machine makes possible 
the survey of the Everglades in its present con- 
dition at a reasonable cost. Six men with this 
tractor can accomplish twice as much work in a 
week as twelve men under the old method. It 
mashes down the vegetation, and makes a 
smooth surface on which to measure the dis- 
tance, and furnishes an elevated platform from 
which to take observations with an instrument, 
thus making it possible to do much more ac- 
curate work than by the old method. With two 
of these tractors in use, the survey of the entire 
Everglades can be completed within a year, 
if the work is steadily prosecuted. 

Healthfulness. 

The writer has received hundreds of letters 
asking about the healthfulness of the Ever- 
glades. Swamp lands are usually unhealthful 
and malarious, but the Everglades seem to be 
an exception to the rule. There have been from 
200 to 300 men from different sections of the 
country employed as engineers and surveyors, 
and workmen on the dredges for the past four 
years. These men have lived in the 'Glades, 
waded in the water, slept in wet clothing, eaten 
simple food, and in many instances drunk the 
water from the sloughs and ponds; and yet there 
has been practically no illness among them. I 
doubt if a more healthy lot of workmen can be 
found in any place than those employed in the 
Everglades. I attribute the healthfulness of 
this area to the fact that the water is not stag- 
nant, and that the surface is swept at all times 



46 FLOEIDA EVEKGLADES 

with a salt breeze from the Gulf of Mexico or 
the Atlantic Ocean. No one need hesitate in 
purchasing land in the Everglades because of 
the unhealthfulness of the locality. With 
screened houses, pure water and wholesome 
food, as good health can be enjoyed here as in 
any place in the country. 

Conclusion. 

Like all new countries, the settlement of the 
Everglades will be attended with many fail- 
ures and disappointments. Persons will set- 
tle here whose lives are not in harmony with 
rural conditions; they will become dissatisfied 
and move away, and their places will be filled 
by others better fitted for farm life. 

I have studied the reclamation and settlement 
of the Everglades from all view points, and am 
fully convinced that within a score of years it 
will be one of the most productive areas in the 
United States. 



PART TWO 



PART TWO. 



THE ADAPTABILITY OF THE EVERGLADES FOR 
THE GROWTH OF SUGAR CANE. 



Sugar Cane — Where Found. 

>g N order to determine the conditions under 
^W which sugar cane can be grown most ad- 
vantageously we have but to study the 
soil and climatology of the localities in which 
it flourishes in a natural state, or in which it is 
most successfully cultivated. 

Writers and travelers tell us that sugar cane is 
found in practically all the low moist lands in 
both hemispheres extending about thirty-five 
degrees both north and south of the equator. 
From this we see that its natural habitat is 
a warm climate, having a mean temperature 
ranging from seventy to ninety degrees, with 
an abundance of moisture and sunshine. It 
seems to thrive best in low lands swept by a 
moist sea breeze. For commercial use cane is 
most extensively grown in British India, Cuba, 
Java, Hawaii, Louisiana and Texas. 

Climatic Conditions Necessary. 

Although sugar cane is a tropical plant, it 
will withstand about 30 degrees F. for a few 
hours without serious injury, but it will not en- 
dure extreme or continued cold. In the coun- 
tries where sugar cane is grown most success- 



50 FLOEIDA EVERGLADES 



fully (without irrigation), the average annual 
rainfall is about sixty inches. In the sugar 
districts of Cuba it is 56 inches; in Porto Rico 
77 inches, and in Louisiana 58 inches. Large 
crops of cane are grown in Guinea and other 
countries with a rainfall of upwards of 100 
inches, but it remains green at maturity and is 
low in sugar content. 

Where the annual average rainfall is much 
below sixty inches, as in the Hawaiian Islands, 
irrigation is necessary to produce a maximum 
jdeld. From careful experiments it has been 
ascertained that each ton of cane produced 
in Louisiana evaporates through its foliage 
about 150 tons of water. The only way in 
which the sugar content is extracted from the 
soil and deposited in the stalk is by the evapora- 
tion of water through the foliage. However fer- 
tile or rich in plant food the soil may be, it 
cannot yield a profitable crop of sugar cane un- 
less the necessary amount of water is available 
at all times. Not only must the requisite quan- 
tity of water be provided, but it must be dis- 
tributed throughout the season as required by 
the growth of the plant. Too much at one time 
and not enough at another is a serious detri- 
ment. 

During the months of March, April and May, 
while the cane plant is small, it cannot evapo- 
rate as much water per day as during the 
months of June, July and August, when the 
stalks are large and the foliage more dense. 
In order that the cane may ripen properly and 
yield a large quantity of sugar, but little mois- 
ture is required in October and November. A 



F L O m 1) A E y E E G L A D E S 



51 



dry season is also advantageous during the win- 
ter months, while the cane is being cut and 
hauled out of the field, but a certain amount of 
moisture is necessary during these months to 
sprout the plant cane and keep the stubble in 
good condition. From these facts it appears 
that a dry winter, followed by a comparatively 
dry spring, then a wet, hot summer with a high 
degree of humidity, followed by a dry fall, are 
the ideal conditions for the growth of sugar 
cane, producing a large yield of sugar. In 
Hawaii and other places, where the annual rain- 
fall is deficient, cane is most successfully grown 
by irrigation. This does not signify that the 
requirements or essential conditions cited above 
are in any way changed or modified; it simply 
means that the exact amount of water required 
by the cane is supplied as needed. 

The average of fifteen tests made under iden- 
tical conditions at the Hawaiian Experiment 
Station, giving the total amount of water re- 
ceived by two crops for the season of 1897 and 
1898, 1898 and 1899 (a period of seventeen 
months each), is as follows: 













Water 










Yield 


Required 


Crop 


Rain- 


Irriga- 


Water 


Sugar 


to Pro- 


Period. 


fall. 


tion. 


Per 


Per 


duce 1 








Acre. 


Acre. 


11). of Su- 
gar. 


1S<>7-J)S 


46.56 


48.00 


2.5()7.682 


25.755 1 


865 


1898-99 


26.01 


77.00 


2,797.133 


27,133 1 


859 



'•=The author states that no single rainfall exceeded one 
inch, and no more than one inch of water was applied at 
any single irrigation. 



52 FLORIDA EVEEGLADES 

By withholding the water at the end of the 
growing season, where irrigation is practiced, 
the cane is ripened naturally and the sugar con- 
tent is much greater than it otherwise would 
be. In fact, the ideal condition for growing 
any crop is that in which the grower is able to 
control the amount of moisture in the soil. When 
there is too much he must be able to promptly 
remove the excess; when there is too little to 
supply the deficiency. Where these conditions 
exist, or can be secured, a maximum crop may 
be produced each year with a degree of certainty 
that makes agriculture profitable. 

Essentials for Profitable Cane Culture. 

Dr. W. C. Stubbs, a recognized authority on 
sugar cane, says: ''It may be asserted most posi- 
tively that the conditions best suited to sugar 
cane are: (1) Fertile soil, (2) necessary condi- 
tions of temperature; (3) an abundant water 
supply, either naturally or through irrigation, 
so that it may be applied in ample quantities 
only when needed, and withlield when the cane 
has attained growth so that the process of ma- 
turation may take place." (See ''Cultivation 
of Sugar Cane," by Wm. C. Stubbs, page 30). 

Everglade Soil. 

We will now examine briefly the natural fea- 
tures of the Everglades, and see to what extent 
the necessary conditions for the growth of su- 
gar cane exists or can be readily secured. 

The principal part of the Everglades lies be- 



FLORIDA EVERGLADES 53 

tween the 25tli and 27th parallels of north lati- 
tude, being well in the limits of the sugar belt. 
The surface elevation ranges from six to twenty 
feet above sea level. The entire area is exposed 
to damp, moist winds, with a high degree of 
humidity during the summer months. There 
is an abundant supply of water for irrigation at 
all times. No intelligent agriculturist, who has 
ever examined the soil of the Everglades, ques- 
tions its fertility. It is a bed of muck from two 
to fourteen feet deep underlain with a rotten 
limestone. A great many samples of soil from 
different parts of the Everglades have been 
analyzed by a number of competent chemists 
and the results obtained are practically the same 
throughout the entire area. Around the mar- 
gin of the lake, and in other places where the 
land is driest, the muck is more thoroughly de- 
composed, and is in better condition for plant 
growth, but it possesses no elements of plant 
food not found in other parts of the Everglades. 
Two representative samples taken from the 
interior west of Pompano, and examined for 
lime, potash and phosphoric acid and nit- 
rogen by the Bureau of Soils, U. S. Department 
of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, show the 
following results: 

TABLE OF ANALYSIS. 

Sample 1. Sample 2. 

Lime 2.25 per cent. 2.21 per cent. 

Potash 15 " " .08 " 

Phosphoric acid 19 " " .19 " 

Nitrogen 3.16 " " 2.58 " 

From hundreds of samples of soil taken from 
various sections of the sugar district of Louis- 



54 FLORIDA EVERGLADES 



iana, Dr. Stubbs says the average analysis will 
be about as follows: 

Lime 50 per cent. 

Potash 40 per cent. 

riiosphoric Acid 10 per cent. 

Nitrogen 10 per cent. 

Dr. Walter Maxwell, Director of the Experi- 
ment Station of Honolulu, gives the following 
mean result of nearly one hundred analyses 
from that locality: 

TABLE OF Dli. MAXWELL'S ANALYSES. 

Lime Potas Plios. Acid Nitrogen 

Island. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. IVr Cent. 

Oahii :3S .342 .207 .170 

Kanai 41S .300 .187 .227 

Maui 390 .357 .270 ..388 

Hawaii 185 .340 .513 .540 

These analyses are given to show the simi- 
larity of the soil in the Everglades to that of 
well-known sugar-producing sections. The writ- 
er does not believe that a soil analysis alone is 
conclusive proof of the productivity of any soil. 
Certain conditions of aeration and moisture are 
absolutely essential to render the plant food 
found in the soil available for the growth of 
the plant. In many places the yield of certain 
crops is materially increased by an application 
of potash or phosphoric acid, when an analysis 
of the soil shows the existence of a much larger 
quantity of these elements in the soil than is 
required for the growth and perfection of the 
crop being cultivated. 

The old adage— ''The proof of the pudding is 
in the eating" — is quite applicable in determin- 



FLOEIDA EVEKGLADES 55 

ing what a certain soil will produce. A real 
practical demonstration is a much safer guide 
than any laboratory analysis that can be made 
in determining whether a soil will or will not 
produce certain crops. 

Although the Everglades as an entirety are 
not sufficiently drained for cultivation, there 
are certain limited areas partially drained where 
field demonstrations have been made. On the 
bank of Rita river, one mile south of Lake Okee- 
chobee, sugar cane was grown quite successfully 
for a number of years with very little cultiva- 
tion and without fertilizer of any kind. The 
writer inspected this patch of cane three differ- 
ent years and found a most remarkable growth. 
The stalks were large and heavy and yielded 
a profitable crop of syrup. 

At the present time there is a patch of cane 
on the bank of south canal, five miles south of 
the lake, that was planted last April. This 
cane has made a good growth, and demonstrates 
conclusively the adaptability of the soil and 
climate for this crop. On the canal five miles 
from Miami is another field of cane, which I had 
photographed Nov. 15, 1912. (See plate X.) 
In this instance the saw grass was burned off 
the land, a furrow opened and the seed cane 
laid in and covered. I am informed this cane 
was not cultivated and no fertilizer of any kind 
was used. In the same locality the owner tells 
me he harvested forty tons of cane per acre last 
year. 

On the Fellsmere Farms, near Sebastian, 80 
miles north of the Everglades, they are grow- 

5 — Ev. 



56 F L O E I D A E V E E G L A D E S 

ing sugar cane quite successfully. (See plate 
XII.) 

On St. Cloud plantation, near Kissimmee, Fla., 
on land exactly like the Everglades so far as 
can be determined, as high as sixty-three tons 
of cane per acre was grown and manufactured 
into sugar, yielding 12,600 pounds per acre. 

These demonstrations show most conclusively 
that the soil of the Everglades is suited to the 
growth of sugar cane. It is richer in lime and 
nitrogen than the cane lands in Louisiana and 
the Hawaiian Islands, and has about the same 
amount of phosphoric acid as these lands, but 
is slightly deficient in potash. 

Temperature. 

The conditions of temperature in the Ever- 
glades are about all that can be desired for the 
growth of sugar cane. The summers are long 
and hot, while the winter months have just 
enough cool weather to ripen the cane. Frosts 
are of rare occurrence, and when they do occur 
cause but little injury. 

The following table gives the mean annual, 
highest and lowest temperature at Jupiter and 
Fort Mvers, 1898-1906: 



FLORIDA E V E R G L A 1) E S 



Jupiter. 



Fort Myers. 







tJD 






ti. 






Xj 




tr. 


aJ 






Year. 






5 J: 
p a; 










-f^ 




►J 


-H 


i-r( 
*— 1 


^ 


1898 


73.7 


91 


31 


72.6 


94 


28 


1899 


74.4 


93 


28 


73.1 


93 


28 


1900 


74.3 


93 


31 


72.3 


92 


34 


1901 


72.6 


92 


38 


70.3 


94 


32 


1902 


74.4 


96 


38 


72.2 


94 


31 


1903 


74.1 


96 


36 


71.8 


94 


35 


1904 


73.8 


94 


39 


.... 


94 


34 


1905 


74.0 


94 


24 


73.5 


94 


27 


1908 


73.7 


91 


30 


72.4 


92 


31 



These stations are both north of the body of 
the Everglades, and, no doubt, show from three 
to four degrees lower temperature than would 
be registered south of Lake Okeechobee. 

The following table gives the mean annual, 
highest and lowest temperature at the sugar ex- 
periment station at New Orleans, La., for ten 
years, 1888-1896: 



TEMPERATTKE— SUGAR EXPERIMENT 
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA. 



Year, 



Mean Animal 
Temperature. 



Highest. 
During Year. 



STATION— 



Lowest. 
During Year. 



1887 70.3 

1888 70.2 

1889 70.1 

1890 69.98 

1891 68.20 

1892 67.70 

1893 68.40 

1894 68.05 

1895 68.43 

1896 68.76 



99 


72 


98 


27 


96 


30 


95 


32 


98 


29 


99 


21 


99 


28 


99 


19 


98 


15 


98 


24 



58 FLOKIDA EVEEGLADES 

An inspection of these tables shows that the 
mean annual, and also the minimum, tempera- 
ture is higher in the Everglades than in the 
sugar district of Louisiana. Cold waves are not 
so frequent and are of shorter duration. On 
account of this immunity from cold, sugar cane 
in the Everglades has a longer season in which 
to grow and ripen than in Louisiana and is con- 
sequently much richer in sucrose. In Louisiana 
the grinding season commences about the third 
week in October and is completed on most plan- 
tations by December 31. This is necessary in 
order to save the crop before the cold weather, 
whicli usually comes in January or February. 
This short period in which the crop must be 
handled entails a great loss to the sugar planter. 

When the grinding season commences the 
cane is immature, and the yield of sugar per ton 
is much less than after the first of December, 
when the cane is fully ripe. On the other hand, 
if the grinding is not finished before a severe 
freeze comes, a much greater loss is sustained. 

This drawback will not be encountered in 
the Everglades. The harvesting need not com- 
mence until December, giving the cane ample 
time to mature, and it can continue without 
loss until March or April. This advantage alone 
represents a handsome profit in favor of the 
cane grower in the Everglades. 

Rainfall and Water Supply. 

The next essential to be considered is that of 
precipitation and water supply. On this condi- 
tion depends largely the success or failure of 



FLORIDA EVERGLADES 59 

sugar cane culture in any country. Sugar 
cane cannot be grown successfully, and manu- 
factured at a profit, unless the proper quantity 
of water is supplied to the cane at the right 
time. If this cannot be provided naturally it 
must be supplied artificiall}^ If there is too 
much rain at one period adequate provision must 
be made by drainage to remove the excess 
promptly. If there is likely to be a deficiency 
at any season of the year, provision must be 
made to supply it by irrigation. 

The following tables show the monthly dis- 
tribution of the rainfall at Jupiter, Kissimmee 
and Fort Myers. These are the nearest points 
to the Everglades at w^iich reliable records have 
been kept for any length of time, and, no doubt, 
represent fairly well the rainfall in the northern 
part of the Everglades : 



60 



FLORIDA EVERGLADES 



^^ 




C^ >s t- -^ O 




O Ci '^ 




C!i I- n 


1 


O Tt^ o 










bCrg T-l tH GO 




O >0 tH 




O 00 C^l 


1 


CO '^ '^t^ 










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CO lO CO 




d d ^i 




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CO CO iq 


Cl 


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rH 


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cvi 


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AVERAGE OF ANNUAL RAINFALL 
AT 
JUPITER KISSIMMEE AND FORT N/fYERS 




1898. 1899. 1900. 1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906, 



FLOEIDA EVERGLADES 63 

The accompanying diagrams show in graphic 
form the average of the annual rainfalls at 
Jupiter, Kissimmee and Fort Myers, and also 
the seasonable distribution of the same for nine 
years. In the absence of actual gaugings of 
the rainfall in the Everglades, covering a period 
of several years, these diagrams may be ac- 
cepted as the most reliable data available on 
the subject: 

From a careful inspection of the foregoing 
tables and diagrams the following conclusions 
are reached: 

1. In ^ve of the nine years reported the total 
rainfall, if j^roperly distributed, was sufficient 
to produce a good cane crop. 

2. In four of the nine years reported the total 
rainfall was not sufficient to meet the require- 
ments for a maximum cane crop. 

3. In four of the nine years the monthly 
distribution of the rainfall conformed quite 
closely to the quantities required by the grow- 
ing cane. 

4. In five of the nine years the distribution 
was quite irregular, there being a large excess 
in some months and a deficiency in others. 

6. During the fall months there is too much 
rain for the proper ripening of the cane and a 
good yield of sugar. 

In studying the climate of the sugar-produc- 
ing countries in no place is found a uniform dis- 
tribution of the rainfall throughout a series of 
years, and in no place do they grow a maximum 
crop of cane each year. In Louisiana the rain- 
fall during the spring months ranges from 6.42 
to 20.4 inches; in the summer months from 



64 FLOE IDA EVEEGLADES 

13.49 to 29.98; in the fall mouths from 3.71 to 
20.39; in the winter months from 4.53 to 21.36. 

In Porto Rico the rainfall during the spring- 
months ranges from 1.13 to 13.78; in the summer 
months from 3.92 to 16.12; in the fall from 5.13 
to 13.90; in the winter from .51 to 8.11. 

In the Everglades it ranges from 3.4 to 11.2 
inches in the spring months ; from 15 to 30 inches 
in the summer; from 10.6 to 19 inches in the fall; 
and from 3.5 to 15 inches in tlie winter. 

Advantageous Features of the Everglades. 

The amount and distribution of the rainfall 
cannot be controlled by human agency. In 
some months there will be too much rain, and 
in some too little for the best growth of sugar 
cane. With the overflow from Lake Okeecho- 
bee cut off, and the outlet canals (seven to ten 
feet deep) completed, practically all the land in 
the Everglades can be properly drained by 
the digging of sufficient lateral ditches. Just 
how close together and how deep these ditches 
should be to properly drain the land for the 
cultivation of sugar cane will depend largely 
upon the methods of cultivation and the degree 
of risk, from too much rainfall, the proprietor 
is willing to assume. 

Although sugar cane is a water-loving plant, 
any amount of rainfall in excess of that required 
by the plant must be promptly removed or it 
works an injury. This can be done only by 
providing adequate drainage. The field ditches 
must be of sufficient capacity to remove prompt- 
ly the heaviest rainfall that is likely to occur. 



FLOKIDA EVEKGLADES 65 

Cane growers, as a rule, do not appreciate this 
fact. They plant land that is imperfectly 
drained with a hope that heavy rains may never 
come. The result is the crop is often damaged 
and the financial loss in a single year greater 
than the cost of proper ditching. 

Opinion of Dr. Stubbs. 

On the importance of drainage for sugarcane 
I desire to quote at length from the ''Cultiva- 
tion of Sugar Cane," by William C. Stubbs, 
Part I, page 39: 

''Nowhere on earth is drainage more essential 
than in the alluvial districts of Louisiana, and 
while many plantations may be considered well 
drained, the average planter has not yet fully 
appreciated the necessity for multiplying open 
ditches to the extent of forcing his soils to their 
fullest capacity. This is evidenced by a trip 
over the State and observing the varying dis- 
tances between ditches which obtain in different 
plantations. 

' ' Only in very dry seasons can badly drained 
lands be made to yield large crops. Since these 
unfortunately occur only at long intervals, the 
average yield on such lands is far below their 
natural capacity. On badly drained lands 
neither fertilizer nor cultivation have their full 
effects, hence the discordant opinions which fre- 
quenty prevail among our planters from the use 
of the same fertilizer or the same method of 
cultivation. From the experiences of this sta- 
tion it is almost impossible to be 'over-drained,' 
providing the work of draining be intelligently 



66 FLOKIDA EVERGLADES 

performed. It is well for every planter to study 
his system of drainage and examine liis ditches, 
and see if they be deep enough, wide enough 
and sufficiently abundant to carry off our heav- 
iest rainfalls and retain the 'bottom or ground 
water' at a constant depth below the surface. 
Excellent results can be obtained with open 
ditches, provided they are numerous, deep and 
wide. In the lower sugar district these ditches 
should be at least as close as 100 to 125 feet, 
and deep enough to hold the bottom water at 
least three feet below the surface.'' 

Drainage in the Everglades. 

The rainfall is just as heavy in the Everglades 
as in Louisiana, and because of this field ditches 
are absolutely necessary; but the muck soil of 
the Everglades is more porous than the alluvial 
soil of the sugar lands of Louisiana, and for this 
reason field ditches need not be so close together. 

There is much speculation and difference of 
opinion as to the proper distance apart, and 
size and depth of field ditches required, for per- 
fect drainage in the Everglades. While the 
land is new and the soil porous I believe that 
field ditches with free outlets 660 feet apart 
will afford good drainage for the cultivation of 
sugar cane. When the land has been cultivated 
a number of years it will become more compact 
and the ditches will need to be closer together, 
probably 330 feet apart for good drainage. 
These ditches should be at least four feet deep 
and not less than three feet wide on the bottom. 
The plot between the lateral ditches should 





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FLORIDA EVERGLADES 67 



have frequent shallow surface ditches (called 
in Louisiana quarter drains) to lead the surface 
water, when the ground is saturated, into the 
lateral ditches. These should not be deep 
enough to interfere with cultivation. 

Without a complete system of lateral ditches 
the growing of sugar cane in the Everglades 
will be a hazardous business. There are times 
when there is too much rainfall for it to be taken 
up by free evaporation from the soil and by the 
growing crops. This surplus must be promptly 
removed by proper drainage, or the crop will 
be impaired. This is particularly necessary in 
the late fall, when the cane begins to ripen. Un- 
less the land is thoroughly drained at this time 
the cane will remain green and the sugar content 
will be small. 

A perfect arrangement for controlling the sup- 
ply of water can be secured by placing movable 
dams in the canals on the sugar plantation to cut 
off the supply from the main arteries and in- 
stalling a pumping plant of sufficient capacity 
to empty the canals on the plantation when de- 
sirable to do so. By this method the plane of 
soil water can be reduced to any level desired. 
Such a system will provide perfect drainage at 
all times, thereby insuring the planter against 
adverse weather conditions. 

This same pumping plant can be used to raise 
the water for irrigation when there there is a 
low stage in the drainage canals. The water 
can be distributed over the land in shallow 
ditches and let into the furrows between the 
cane rows and drawn off through the drainage 
canals, or the dams can be closed and the ca- 



6— Ev. 



08 FLOKIDA EVERGLADES 

nals filled to the proper stage to water the crop 
by sub-irrigation. 

Because of the low lift and the abundant sup- 
ply of water at hand the cost of irrigation will 
be less in the Everglades than in any other su- 
gar-producing district in the world. 

Since sugar cane is a crop of high commer- 
cial value — $90.00 to $150.00 per acre — no pains 
should be spared to prepare the land in such a 
way as to produce a full crop each year. The 
grower cannot afford to assume any risk that 
can be provided against by irrigation and drain- 
age. 

Dual Use of Canals. 

In planning a system of drains for a sugar 
plantation in the Everglades the use of the ca- 
nals for transportation purposes must be given 
due consideration. The distribution of seed 
cane at planting, and the hauling of cane from 
the field to the sugar mill, are important items. 

In Louisiana the cane is usually handled 
from the field to the sugar house in cars, hold- 
ing from three to seven tons, drawn on a tram 
road by a small locomotive. This work can 
be done at much less cost in the Everglades by 
means of canals and barges. 

One mile of tram road, with good ties and 
thirty-pound steel rails, will cost at least $2,- 
500.00 per mile without the equipment for oper- 
ating same. A canal twenty feet wide and 
seven and one-half feet deep will cost about 
$1,765.00 per mile. The barges and launches 
necessary to handle 1,200 tons of cane per day 



FLOEIDA EVEKGLADES 69 

will cost much less than an equipment of cars 
and locomotives for the same service. In ad- 
dition to handling the cane, the barges can be 
used to haul the finished product to the ship- 
ping point, while locomotives and cars cannot, 
without the building of a road for that purpose. 



METHODS TO BE EMPLOYED AND COST OF PREPAR- 
ING THE LAND.— PLANTING AND CULTIVATING 
SUGAR CANE IN THE EVERGLADES. 



Condition of the Land. 

Practically all the land in the Everglades is 
free from trees and bushes, so there is no ex- 
pense to be incurred for clearing and grubbing. 
The saw grass can be burned off, leaving noth- 
ing on the ground but a coarse stubble. This 
burning destroys the seeds of any grasses or 
weeds, making the cultivation the first year 
quite easy. The land is too soft, at the pres- 
ent time, to admit of the use of animal power 
for plowing and cultivating. When it is 
drained and put in cultivation it will become 
more compact each year, and in a few years 
will be firm enough to be cultivated in the usual 
manner. In Louisiana this work is done with 
the best mules that can be secured, the initial 
cost and maintenance of which is a large item 
of expense. In Cuba, oxen are largely used 
as the motive power on the sugar plantation. 



70 PLOEIDA EVERGLADES 

A Tractor as Power. 

A form of tractor for use on soft ground is 
now being built by a number of manufactur- 
ers. It is used in the same manner as an ordi- 
nary traction engine, and moves readily over 
ground too soft to carry the weight of a horse 
or an ox. These tractors have been thorough- 
ly tried out in the Everglades and are a de- 
cided success. They are also successfully used 
for plowing swamp lands in southern Louis- 
iana and in the cultivation of sugar beets in 
the Western States. Where the land is prac- 
tically level and free from obstructions, it can 
be broken and cultivated much cheaper by a 
steam or gasoline plow than by animal power. 

On a large j^lantation the initial cost of the 
required number of tractors and gang plows 
is but little, if any, greater than the cost of 
the necessary mules and implements to do the 
same work. The cost of fuel to operate a 
tractor is much less than the cost of feed for 
the animals that would be required to do the 
same work. The cost of the labor to operate 
a tractor and gang plows is much less than the 
cost of the labor necessary to cultivate the same 
land with animal power. 

During that portion of the year when the 
tractor is not in use it requires no attention or 
expense, while mules must be cared for and 
fed, whether idle or at work. Where a large 
number of animals are employed on a plan- 
tation, the loss from accident and disease is a 
large item — much greater than the deprecia- 
tion of a mechanical equipment. 



FLOEIDA EVEEGLADES 71 

With a machine of this type the raw land in 
the Everglades can be prepared and planted, 
at a less cost per acre, than by the methods now 
in vogue in Cuba, Louisiana or the Hawaiian 
Islands. One of these tractors will travel at 
the rate of two miles per hour and will plow 
a strip one-half rod wide as fast as it moves. 
At this rate it will plow twenty acres per day 
of ten hours at a cost for labor and gasoline 
of twenty dollars per day, or a unit cost of one 
dollar per acre. The same tractor can be used 
for harrowing the ground and opening the fur- 
rows to receive the seed cane. 

Seed Cane. 

For planting any large area in the Ever- 
glades for the first time, seed cane will have to 
be secured from the cultivated lands in Florida 
and brought to Fort Myers or Fort Lauderdale 
by rail or on barges. Here it can be transferred 
to small barges and delivered to the planta- 
tion through the drainage canals. This seed 
cane, delivered at the plantation, will probably 
cost six dollars per ton. 

In common practice four or four and a half 
tons of seed cane are required to plant one 
acre. Since the seed cane for planting in the 
Everglades must be brought a long distance, 
there is a possibility that many of the eyes or 
buds will be injured and that some will not 
sprout. For these reasons it will be prudent 
to plant at least five tons of seed per acre to 
insure a good stand. 



72 FLOEIDA EVE K GLADES 

Method of Handling. 

In order to distribute the seed cane economi- 
cally in the field, and for the purpose of har- 
vesting the crop, a quantity of portable track 
in sections of fifteen feet each, made of fifteen- 
pound "T" rails, and a supply of cane cars, 
holding two or three tons each, will be required. 
With this equipment cane can be distributed and 
planted quickly and cheaply with a minimum 
of laborers. The cane can also be distributed 
over the field very economically by means of 
the tractor used for plowing the land. 

Seed cane is usually planted by opening a 
furrow with a double mould-board plow, and 
laying the stalks about two to the running foot 
in the furrow and covering by hand, or with a 
disc-plow. In some localities, the stalks are 
cut into short pieces, but this is not necessary 
unless they are very crooked. 

Cane may be planted in the Everglades any 
time from October to April. Where a large 
plantation is being established, it will be more 
economical to purchase seed, and plant about 
fifteen per cent, of the area the first year, and 
then use this crop for seeding the remainder of 
the plantation. After a few years, when the 
stubble cane begins to deteriorate, about twen- 
ty per cent, of the plantation should be re- 
planted each year. 

Cultivation. 

The cultivation of sugar cane in the Ever- 
glades will be light work. After the saw grass 




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is burned, and the land broken, there will be 
no weed and grass seeds left on the soil, to ger- 
minate and spring up the first year. The soil 
is loose and finely pulverized, and will not bake, 
and become compacted, so as to break up in 
clods. The cultivation can be done largely 
with the tractor, and some form of disc or gang 
plow. But little hand labor will be required. 
The land is free from those fine grasses, like 
nut grass and Johnson grass, that are so hard 
to destroy. The most common vegetation, 
after the first year, is coarse weeds, that grow 
rapidly and are easily killed. 

Care of Ditches. 

Since complete and perfect drainage is the 
key to success in cane culture, the ditches must 
be kei3t at all times in good order. The cane 
rows will run parallel with the field ditches, 
and the furrows between the rows will collect 
the surface water in times of heavy rains. Pro- 
vision must be made for leading the water from 
these furrows into the side drains. This can 
be done by shallow furrows or surface ditches, 
across the plot, at frequent intervals. These 
need not be deep enough to interfere with the 
cultivation, but must be kept open at all times. 

Commercial Fertilizer. 

It is the opinion of the writer that no coin^ 
mercial fertilizer will be required on this land.^ 
Experience will, however, finally determine the 
matter. 



74 FLOEIDA EVERGLADES 

Harvesting. 

Cutting, stripping and delivering the cane to 
the sugar mill is an arduous task on a sugar 
plantation. When one considers there may be 
thirty to forty tons of cane per acre; that it 
may be badly blown down and tangled; that 
each stalk must be cut separately; the heavy 
cost of harvesting becomes apparent. Each 
sugar-producing country has its own method 
(best suited to its conditions) for doing this 
work. In the Everglades I think the method 
best suited will be similar to that used in Louis- 
iana. Each stalk of cane will be cut by hand 
flush with the ground, stripped of its leaves and 
topped at the proper joint. Three or four rows 
may be thrown together in small piles, of 100 
to 200 stalks. These piles can be gathered by 
hand labor and placed in cane cars on a port- 
able track alongside the piles of cane. These 
cars can be handled by a hoisting engine and 
a wire rope, leading to barges holding forty to 
sixty tons in the collecting canals. The cars 
can be unloaded by means of a derrick and grap- 
ple. It will probably cost a little more per ton 
to handle cane in the Everglades than it does 
in Louisiana, where the ground is firm enough 
to use mechanical cane loaders and carts. 

Life of Sugar Cane. 

In Louisiana they have found, from experi- 
ence, that it is necessary to dig up the stubble, 
every two or three years and re-plant the field 
to maintain a good crop and a profitable yield. 



FLOEIDA EVEKGLADES 75 

In Cuba, owing to the mild climate, cane 
grows six to ten years without re-planting. In 
the Everglades it will probably produce a good 
yield six to eight years from one planting. This 
saving, in seed cane and labor is a very im- 
portant item. 

Cost of Growing Cane. 

In the absence of actual experience, I think 
the following may be taken as a conservative 
estimate of the cost of preparing the land, cost 
of seed cane, planting, cultivating and harvest- 
ing, first and second years cane crop in the Ever- 
glades. After the first year, the cost of pre- 
paring the land and the cost of seed cane will 
be largely eliminated, as the cane will continue 
to reproduce from the rattoons for a number 
of years. The cultivation after the first year 
will be more expensive, as some hand labor will 
be required, while the plant is young and ten- 
der: 

ESTIMATED COST OF GROWING SUGAR CANE ON A 
LARGE PLANTATION IN THE EVERGLADES. 

STATEMENT FIRST YEAR. 

Breaking land with tractor and gang plows. .$ 1.00 per acre 

Pulverizing and bedding with tractor 1.50 

Seed cane, 5 tons at 6.00 per ton 30.00 

Distributing and planting seed cane 5.00 

Three cultivations with tractor and gangs.. 3.00 

One cultivation with hand tools 2.00 

Care of ditches and quarter drains 50 



Total cost of production .$43.00 '" '* 

Conservative yield 35 tons per acre: 

Cutting, stripping and loading at 80 cents per ton . . $28.00 



Total cost of crop $71.00 



76 FLOEIDA EVEKGLADES 



Value of 35 tons at $3.00 per tou $105.00 

Less cost of production 71.00 



Net profit first year $ 34.00 

STATEMENT SECOND YEAR. 

Off-barring and scraping stubble $ 3.00 per acre 

Five cultivations with tractor 5.0O 

One cultivation with hand tools 2.00 

Care of ditches and quarter drains 1.00 



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Total cost of production $11.00 

Conservative yield 35 tons per acre. 

Cutting, stripping and loading : 
Thirty-five tons at 80 cents per ton $ 28.00 per acre 

Total cost of crop $39.00 " " 

Value of thirty-five tons at $3.00 per ton $105.00 

Less cost of production 39.00 

Net profit second year $ 66.00 

For the third and subsequent years the cost 
of production will be about the same as that for 
the second year. 

In the foregoing estimate of the cost of grow- 
ing cane in the Everglades no account has been 
taken of interest on investment on the deprecia- 
tion of the equipment required for running the 
plantation. The figures are intended merely 
to show the probable cost of growing sugar 
cane under favorable conditions and delivering 
it to a central factory. 

The personal supervision and degree of in- 
telligence exercised in the management of any 
business has much to do with the cost of opera- 
tion. This is particularly true of farming. 
Judgment in preparing the land, selecting the 
seed and methods of cultivation often have 
more to do with the harvest than the character 



FLORIDA EVERGLADES 77 

of the land. Some planters have grown rich 
in Louisiana growing cane, while others have 
failed on similar land. The same thing is like- 
ly to happen in the Everglades. Unless the 
land is properly drained and advanced methods 
of cultivation employed the crop undertaken 
is likely to be failure, and sugar cane will be 
no exception to the rule. 

From the small patches of cane, I have ob- 
served growing around the margin of the Ever- 
glades and throughout South Florida, I am 
fully convinced that with proper methods of 
culture enormous yields can be secured. In 
the estimate given, thirty-five tons per acre 
were taken as a probable yield. This I regard 
as very conservative. If the soil is put in prop- 
er tilth and a good stand of cane is secured and 
irrigation practiced when needed, I see no rea- 
son why the yield may not be forty-five to fifty 
tons per acre. 

I have secured from a reliable source the 
cost of growing cane by one of the most suc- 
cessful planters in Louisiana, which is as fol- 
lows. 

Preparation of the laud $ 1.80 per acre 

Fertilizer and applying same 6.30 " " 

Cane for seed 15.00 " " 

Planting seed cane 6.00 " " 

Cultivation 9.35 " " 

y 

Total cost of first year's cropl $ 38.45 " " 

In Louisiana the land is re-seeded once in 
two years, the rotation being: First year, plant 
cane ; second year, stubble cane ; third year, 
corn and cowpeas. The yield of plant cane will 



78 FLORIDA EVERGLADES 

average twenty-five to thirty tons per acre; 
stubble cane, eighteen to twenty-two tons per 
acre. The cost of cutting, stripping and haul- 
ing cane, under favorable conditions, is esti- 
mated at 70 cents per ton. It requires two good 
mules to properly cultivate twenty acres of 
cane. 

The Cuban Department of Agriculture has 
issued a bulletin, dated March 9, 1912, in which 
is given the following data as to the cost of 
growing cane in Cuba : 

Preparation of land $10.45 to $22.10 per acre 

Cost of planting (including seed) . 10.50 to 13.80 " 
Cost of cultivation 10.55 to 12.e0 " 

Total cost of production $31.50 to $48.50 " 

The cost of hauling and delivering to the mill 
is given as follows 

Cutting and loading $12.75 to $18.00 per acre 

Hauling to mill 9.00 to 18.00 " 

Total harvesting $21.75 to $36.00 " 

This bulletin says: ^^Good land in Cuba often 
yields thirty to thirty-five tons of cane per acre. 
If irrigation is available, and intense cultiva- 
tion is emplo^^ed, it is possible to raise the pro- 
duction to fifty to sixty tons per acre. 



M 



Marketing and Manufacturing. 

After a cane crop is grown it must be mar- 
keted in the field or converted into syrup or 
sugar. Throughout Florida and Georgia, 
where small areas of cane are grown,, it is 




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FLORIDA EVERGLADES 70 



usually ground in a small mill in the neiglibor- 
liood and converted into syrup. 

In Louisiana, before the war, most of the cane 
grown was ground on the plantation and made 
into yellow sugar. Experience has demon- 
strated this practice is wasteful. A small mill, 
costing but a few hundred dollars, will extract 
from forty to sixty per cent, of the juice from 
the cane, while a heavy, modern mill will ex^ 
tract ninety to ninety-six per cent, at a much 
less cost per ton of cane ground. Improved 
methods of converting the juice into sugar are 
too expensive to install in a small factory. It 
is also much more profitable to manufacture 
a higli grade of sugar than cheap sugar or 
syrup. Because of these facts practically all 
tiie cane grown in Louisiana, Cuba and the Ha- 
waiian Islands is now ground at Central Fac- 
tories and made into a high grade of sugar. 

Where a plantation is large enough to justify 
the initial cost, it builds and operates its own 
factory for grinding the cane grown on the 
place. For the accommodation of the numer- 
ous small planters in a given section, central 
factories are built, which purchase the cane, 
within reach, at a fixed price per ton, direct from 
the grower. In this way the planter gets a fair 
price for his cane, and the manufacturer makes 
a profit because of the efficiency and superior 
advantages of his factory. In most places the 
price paid per ton for cane is determined each 
week, by the market price of sugar and the per 
cent of sucrose in the cane that week. A sim- 
ilar arrangement can be made in the Ever- 
glades. To encourage cane growing a large plan- 



80 FLOE IDA EVEKGLADES 

tat ion — 2,000 to 4,000 acres in cultivation — 
should be established to furnish seed cane to 
small jDlanters and provide a reasonable sup- 
ply of cane for the factory throughout the grind- 
ing season. 

The sugar mill should have ample capacity 
to grind all the cane raised on the plantation, 
and also be able to purchase and grind all the 
cane raised on the smaller farms near by. Such 
an arrangement will make it possible for the 
owners of small tracts to grow sugar cane as a 
profitable staple crop. 

Although sugar cane may not yield as large 
a return per acre as some vegetables that are 
now grown, it is practically a sure crop. Where 
the conditions are at all favorable a total fail- 
ure of a cane crop is unknown. With adequate 
provisions for controlling the water the grow- 
ing of sugar cane in the Everglades is less haz- 
ardous than any other branch of agriculture. 
It is probably more free from disease than any 
other staple crop produced in the Uinted States. 
It requires no special skill in planting and cul- 
tivation; it can be harvested any time from 
December to May; it will produce a profitable 
crop for five to eight years without replanting. 
In fact, sugar cane is the ideal staple crop to be 
grown in the Everglades. 

Supply and Consumption. 

There is no probability that the supply of 
sugar produced in the United States will ever 
exceed the demand for home consumption. The 




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FLOE ID A EVEE GLADES 81 

annual consumption of sugar per capita in this 
country is steadily increasing. In 1870 it was 
32.7 pounds; in 1880, 39.5 pounds; in 1890, 50.7 
pounds; in 1900, 58.9 pounds, and in 1910, 79.9 
pounds. 

The total consumption in the United States, 
in 1910 (according to the report of Willett & 
Gray) was 3,405,204 tons. Of this amount (in- 
cluding both cane and beet sugar) 824,574 tons, 
or less than one-fourth, was produced in the 
United States. The deficiency was supplied by 
importing from Hawaii 489,974 tons; from Por- 
to Kico 285,128 tons; from the Philippines 171,- 
112 tons; making a total of 946,214 tons from 
our insular possessions, on which no duty was 
collected. We imported 1,431,888 tons from 
Cuba, with twenty per cent reduction from the 
full tariff rates. From other countries were 
imported 202,536 tons, at full tariff rates, mak- 
ing the total importation for the year 2,580,630 
tons. This enormous importation should be 
produced in the United States. It would re- 
quire only about 800,000 acres of the best Ever- 
glade land, if properly cultivated, to supply 
this deficiency. 

Value to the State. 

There are at least 2,000,000 acres of land in 
the Everglades and adjacent thereto that are 
especially adapted to the growth of sugar cane. 
Most of this land is now non-productive, yield- 
ing no revenue either to its owner or to the 
State. 

This land can be cleared and prepared for 



82 FLORIDA EVERGLADES 

planting at a cost of $8.00 to $20.00 per acre. If 
this were done, and the land planted in sugar 
cane and properly cultivated, the average yield 
would not likely be less than thirty tons per 
acre. Many persons who have studied the sub- 
ject, place the yield much higher — forty to fifty 
tons per acre. 

With an average of thirty tons per acre, the 
yield from this area would be 60,000,000 tons of 
cane per annum, which, at $3.00 per ton (a very 
low price), would amount to the enormous sum 
of $180,000,000.00 per year This is almost as 
much as the assessed value of all the property 
in the State at the present time. It is more 
than twenty times the value of the largest citrus 
crop ever grown in the State. 

These figures may seem incredible, yet they 
are susceptible of actual demonstration and 
proof. There are numerous small patches of 
cane now growing in South Florida, under 
adverse conditions, that will make more than 
thirty tons per acre. It is easy for any one in- 
terested to prove this statement, by selecting a 
small area, measuring the ground, and weigh- 
ing the cane. In December or January, when 
the cane is mature, samples can be selected and 
analyzed, and the actual sugar content defin- 
itely ascertained. This will be found to be 
worth more than three dollars per ton, after 
deducting a reasonable price for grinding and 
manufacturing. Such an examination and test 
can be readily made, and it is worth a great 
deal more, in determining the value and possi- 
bilities of Everglade land, than the opinion of 



FLOKIDA EVERGLADES 



83 



any expert agriculturist or soil physicist, in 
the country. 

When this land shall have been reclaimed, 
and utilized for the production of sugar, South 
Florida will no longer be spoken of as the ''rich 
man's winter playground," but it will actually 
become the greatest wealth-producing section 
of the United States. 





LEIVIy'l3 



iAN 30 1913 



TTieFl 



E 




onaa 



verglades 




Bp J. O. WRIGHT 






I 





LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 497 163 2 



